What If
by PhoenixHorcrux
Summary: Lily isn't in Gryffindor. Snape isn't in Slytherin. How will this change their friendship? What will happen with James? Beginning in their first year, following them through to adulthood. Rated T for later chapters. AU


a/n Welcome to the first chapter of this story. As of right now, I am intending this to be the first book in a series that will follow Lily and James' stories, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and a next gen story as well. We will see how much of it happens, but as of right now, I have at least Lily and James' story planned out. Anyway, here is the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter One

The letters

June 30, 1971

Cokeworth

"We have the whole summer off! Then we'll be heading to Hogwarts! No more of this pretending. We'll be the best witch and wizard that school will ever see," Severus Snape said.

"Sev, I doubt I'll be that good. I mean, from what you told me, there will be plenty like you, you know, ones who knew they were witches and wizards from the time they were babies. I'll have so much to catch up on. I've been reading all my books, but still, I won't be able to cast a spell for a long time, and oh, Sev, I just won't be any good. I'm so used to this world, I just, I don't know if-" Lily trailed off as Severus gave her a glare that gave her a slight chill.

"Lily, you'll be great. I've been teaching you what I can, and none of us can cast spells yet. It's against the law. Remember?" he replied.

"Yes, that's true. I just hope I'll be good enough at it. I hope I even get my letter," Lily said, looking hopefully up at the sky.

The two friends were in the park where they had first met, two years ago. This was their spot. Their safe place. It was where Severus had told Lily that she was a witch, after witnessing her do magic twice in a row. He had seen her fly off the swing set and make a flower open and close its petals in her hand. She still wasn't so sure that she believed him, but she couldn't help herself, and would often find herself daydreaming about the world he would tell her about.

"Sev, do you think Tuni will be allowed to visit us sometimes?" she asked a little hopefully.

"Maybe, if you get on the quidditch team, your parents might bring her to visit, but Lily, Hogwarts is for us! It's for magic! Petunia is just a muggle. You'll see her enough on holidays." His voice held a hint of hatred. Severus and Petunia didn't get along very well. Nevertheless, Lily loved her sister, and wanted to be able to share her new world with her.

"I guess so. I'll just miss her, and oh, what if I don't make any friends. What if you make new friends and I'm left all on my own? Oh, Sev, I just don't know about all of this." Lily was beginning to work herself up. She was known for worrying too much, and it was something that would annoy Severus on occasion.

"Lily. Listen to me. You are a witch. You will be sorted into a house, and you will make friends. How could you not? You're… well… you're Lily. And no matter what house I get into, I'll still be able to hang out with you, you know, like we can work together in class, or hang out at nights or on the weekends. It doesn't have to change anything. And you'll be able to owl your family as much as you want. Everything will work itself out." Severus tried his best to reassure her, but he was never too sure how to handle things when Lily got too nervous.

"I'm sorry Sev, I just want this to be a good thing. I don't want to lose everything just because of this new place. I don't want everything to change," Lily said, her voice now even and calm.

The two friends spent the rest of that day resting and picking out the cloud shapes in the blue sky above. This was something they would do often, and occasionally Severus would find a magical creature shape in the clouds and would teach Lily about them. He liked teaching her, and thought that she would be a great witch, once she got to Hogwarts. Secretly though, he was a little afraid that he had been wrong about Lily, and that he was the one doing the magic to make himself think she was a witch. She really was his first, and only friend. He was worried that if she wasn't really a witch, he would be left on his own, a fear that Lily herself expressed almost daily.

June 30, 1971

Potter House

"James, your letter is here!" Mrs. Potter called.

James Potter sat up quickly and scrambled out of his bed. He stood for a moment, stretching and looked in the mirror that was on his wardrobe doors. This was the last time he would see himself before officially being accepted into Hogwarts. He looked at his reflection, noting his hazel eyes, and messy black hair.

"I'm in Hogwarts. I'm actually going," he said to himself quietly.

He rushed into the kitchen, sliding on the polished floor as he tried to stop. Regaining his balance, he looked up at his mother, with a large grin on his face.

"Oh, James, be careful. You'll get hurt if you don't slow down. Not to mention, you won't be able to run like that at Hogwarts. you'll need to be careful you don't run into anyone else." His mother said, a look of worry on her face. She picked up a thick parchment envelope and handed it to him. He slid a finger under the wax seal, breaking it as carefully as he could. He pulled out two pieces of a thick parchment, the kind his father would write official letters on. It was real. It was his letter. He would be going to Hogwarts, just like his parents did.

"Wow! It's my letter! I thought…" he trailed off, glancing up at the look of worry forming on his mother's face.

"James, you know they had trouble sending out the letters this year. It's getting harder to send any mail with the war. That's not something you should worry about though. Your father is working hard to keep us all safe. You got your letter, and you'll be in the safest place in all of Britain. You'll be with Albus. Oh, James, I'm so excited for you. I'll arrange with your father to set up a time we can go to pick up your things," his mother replied, affectionately stroking his hair.

James' father was an auror, one of the many working to take down Lord Voldemort. His parents didn't usually talk about the war in front of him, but it seemed that now his mother was realizing he was old enough to know a little. He had been expecting to get his letter in March, or even April, but it hadn't come. He had asked his parents if they knew why he hadn't gotten it yet, but the only answer he had ever received was that the owls were having trouble getting where they needed to go. He had assumed it had something to do with Voldemort, but he was still worried about not getting accepted to Hogwarts.

"Can I tell dad?" James asked.

"I'll floo the office and see if he's in. If he is, you can go through." She told James, heading for the small jar of floo powder they kept on the stone mantel.

Cokeworth

Lily opened the front gate, looking back to see Severus heading off towards the end of the street. She took a moment, and stepped onto the narrow stone pathway her father had built just a year before. Their home wasn't small, but it was no mansion. Her father took great pride in his lawn, and loved planting lilies and petunias in his garden.

After opening the front door, she Tooke a breath before she stepped in. It wasn't that she didn't like being home, it was more that she was nervous about Severus. He never said anything, but Lily knew something wasn't right at his home. His father was known for being a drunk, and his mother wasn't well known. She was brought swiftly out of her thoughts by the sight of a brown barn owl sitting on the kitchen table. It had a thick looking envelope tied to its leg. A thrill of excitement shot though her at the thought that it could be from Hogwarts. Severus said the letters came around their birthday, but Lily hadn't received a letter in January, or February for that matter. Come to think of it, she didn't think Severus had gotten a letter either. At least, he hadn't mentioned one to her.

She walked towards the owl, being careful not to startle the owl off. With shaking fingers, she reached out and untied the letter. As soon as the letter was free, there was a knock as the front door.

"Lily, can you get that?" she heard her mother call from the family room.

"Yeah, but mum, I want to show you this," she called back. Letter in hand, she walked to the front door. She didn't see anyone through the window, but opened it anyway. As soon as the opened the door, she saw who had knocked. It was a tall woman, with black hair wrapped in a very tight looking bun. Her face gave off the impression that she didn't smile much, and that she was a tough person to please.

"Um… hello. Can I help you?" Lily asked, a little unnerved at the sight of the woman.

"Lily Evans. I am Professor McGonagall. I assume you have read your letter?" the woman said. Her voice was a little harsh, and carried the hint of a Scottish accent.

"Oh, this one? Um, well, I only just got it. Are you from… are you from Hogwarts?" Lily asked, her eyes widening slightly.

"I am. I am the deputy headmistress. Could I please come in? I must discuss this with your parents," Professor McGonagall replied.

Lily stepped back, letting the professor come into the house. She led the woman into the family room where her mother was waiting.

"Mum, this is professor McGonagall. She wants to talk to us. Where's dad?" Lily said. Her mother looked up from her book, eyes widening slightly at the sight of their guest.

"Oh, well, nice to meet you professor. I'm Shirley. My husband, Robert will be in shortly. Lily, why don't you go get him. He should be in the shed," her mother said. Lily walked out of the room as professor McGonagall was offered a refreshment and headed towards the back of the house.

Her father was a gardener, often spending hours in their backyard. He had built a shed there to grow some plants that he would sell. Lily loved spending time in her father's garden with him, helping him to plant, or just watching the wildlife around her. When she was younger, her father would take her to the florist to pick out the plants that she liked. He would teach her as much as he could about each plant.

She found her father in the shed, right where she had expected him. He was planting a set of petunias in a new pot that her mother had bought for him that day.

"Dad, there's someone here to talk to you and mum. It's about me," Lily said quietly.

"About you? What did you do?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Oh, nothing, its for this school that I got in. It's not bad," Lily replied.

Her father stood up carefully, placing the pot of petunias on a shelf next to a pot of lilies. He followed her out of the shed, and into their house.

When they walked back into the family room, Lily found her mother sitting in her usual armchair, while professor McGonagall was on the sofa. Her father greeted the professor, and took his seat in his usual chair beside her mother. Lily didn't know where to go. She didn't know if she should sit by the professor, or if she should bring in a chair from the table. She settled for leaning against the wall by her parents.

"Well, Lily, are you going to read your letter?" the professor said, gesturing towards the letter still grasped firmly in Lily's hand. Lily gave a small start of surprise as she looked down to see that she still hadn't read it. She had gotten so distracted with the what ifs of the situation that she had completely forgotten about it. Carefully, she slid a fingernail under the wax seal, breaking it free. The parchment inside was very thick, much thicker than the paper she usually used. It was a cream color too; it vaguely reminded her of an old style book, like a book from the middle ages that would be seen in a museum. She felt two pieces of parchment in the envelope and pulled both out. They were indeed heavier than the paper she used at school, and Lily felt a sense of excitement that already the paper was different than what she was used to.

Looking around the room, at the expectant faces watching her, she began to read.

"Dear Lily Elise Evans. We are pleased to inform you that you have been excepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." She looked up, a smile quickly spreading across her rounded face. "It's real? I'm actually a witch?"

"Well Miss Evans, I don't know who told you that you are, but it is true. I am the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, and I did in fact send that letter. You are magical, and if your parents agree to it, you have a place in our first year class," professor McGonagall said.

"Lily is a witch? Oh! Robert! That's great! Of course she'll go." Her mother said.

"Oh, yes, I do agree. She should learn how to use her powers, but how is she a witch? None of us can do anything like that," her father said.

"Lily is what we call a muggle-born witch. You, being her parents, are what we refer to as muggles. It simply means that you do not have access to magic. We don't know why it happens, but occasionally, two muggles will produce a child who has access to magic. It's something we are still studying," professor McGonagall said.

"And how will we pay for this? Where is the school? How does this all work?" her father asked, reaching out for the letter Lily was still holding. She handed over the first page, intent on reading the list of supplies she needed.

"Payment is handled by the bank, Gringotts. You pay in muggle money, and they convert it into wizarding money which goes to the school's vault. The school is somewhere in Scotland. It is unplottable so none of us really know the location. When Lily goes to get her supplies, you could find some books on the school to familiarize yourself with it," professor McGonagall explained. "Now, I should warn you, while Hogwarts is possibly the safest place in all Britain, our world is at war. It is my job to make sure that war has as little of an effect on the students as possible."

Lily glances up from her list, noting the happy expressions on her parents' faces. "Um, professor, where am I supposed to get all of this? I don't know where to buy a wand," Lily said.

"Ah, yes, Diagon Alley. It is in London. You'll need to lead your parents there. You'll see a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Head through there, and you'll come to a brick wall. Tom, the barkeep will have to let you in the first time, but you'll be able to get out just fine. You'll find everything you need there," the professor explained.


End file.
